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Palazzo
del Te or
Palazzo
Te is
a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy designed by Giulio
Romano. In it there is a room called the Camera dei Giganti that
is a 360 degree immersive narrative. Here is what Giorgio Vasari
says about it from his “Lives”:
After
passing the great loggia, which is adorned with stucco-work and
with many arms and various other bizarre ornaments, one comes to
some rooms filled with such a variety of fantasies, that the brain
reels at the thought of them. For Giulio, who was very fanciful
and ingenious, wishing to demonstrate his worth, resolved to make,
at an angle of the palace which formed a corner similar to that of
the room of Psyche described above, an apartment the masonry of
which should be in keeping with the painting, in order to deceive
as much as possible all who might see it. He therefore had double
foundations of great depth sunk at that corner, which was in a
marshy place, and over that angle he constructed a large round
room, with very thick walls, to the end that the four external
angles of the masonry might be strong enough to be able to support
a double vault, round after the manner of an oven. This done, he
caused to be built at the corners right round the room, in the
proper places, the doors, windows, and fireplace, all of rustic
stones rough-hewn as if by chance, and, as it were, disjointed and
awry, insomuch that they appeared to be really hanging over to one
side and falling down. Having built this room in such strange
fashion, he set himself to paint in it the most fantastic
composition that he was able to invent--namely, Jove hurling his
thunderbolts against the Giants. And so, depicting Heaven on the
highest part of the vaulting, he placed there the throne of Jove,
representing it as seen in foreshortening from below and from the
front, within a round temple, supported by open columns of the
Ionic Order, with his canopy over the center of the throne, and
with his eagle; and all was poised upon the clouds. Lower down he
painted Jove in anger, slaying the proud Giants with his
thunderbolts, and below him is Juno, assisting him; and around
them are the Winds, with strange countenances, blowing towards the
earth, while the Goddess Ops turns with her lions at the terrible
noise of the thunder, as also do the other Gods and Goddesses, and
Venus in particular, who is at the side of Mars; and Momus, with
his arms outstretched, appears to fear that Heaven may be falling
headlong down, and yet he stands motionless. The Graces, likewise,
are standing filled with dread, and beside them, in like manner,
the Hours.
All
the Deities, in short, are taking to flight with their chariots.
The Moon, Saturn, and Janus are going towards the lightest of the
clouds, in order to withdraw from that terrible uproar and
turmoil, and the same does Neptune, who, with his dolphins,
appears to be seeking to support himself on his trident. Pallas,
with the nine Muses, stands wondering what horrible thing this may
be, and Pan, embracing a Nymph who is trembling with fear, seems
to wish to save her from the glowing fires and the
lightning-flashes with which the heavens are filled. Apollo stands
in the chariot of the sun, and some of the Hours seem to be
seeking to restrain the course of his horses. Bacchus and Silenus,
with Satyrs and Nymphs, betray the greatest terror, and Vulcan,
with his ponderous hammer on one shoulder, gazes towards Hercules,
who is speaking of this event with Mercury, beside whom is Pomona
all in dismay, as are also Vertumnus and all the other Gods
dispersed throughout that Heaven, in which all the effects of fear
are so well expressed, both in those who are standing and in those
who are flying, that it is not possible, I do not say to see, but
even to imagine a more beautiful fantasy in painting than this
one.
In
the parts below, that is, on the walls that stand upright,
underneath the end of the curve of the vaulting, are the Giants,
some of whom, those below Jove, have upon their backs mountains
and immense rocks which they support with their stout shoulders,
in order to pile them up and thus ascend to Heaven, while their
ruin is preparing, for Jove is thundering and the whole Heaven
burning with anger against them; and it appears not only that the
Gods are dismayed by the presumptuous boldness of the Giants, upon
whom they are hurling mountains, but that the whole world is
upside down and, as it were, come to its last day. In this part
Giulio painted Briareus in a dark cavern, almost covered with vast
fragments of mountains, and the other Giants all crushed and some
dead beneath the ruins of the mountains. Besides this, through an
opening in the darkness of a grotto, which reveals a distant
landscape painted with beautiful judgment, may be seen many Giants
flying, all smitten by the thunderbolts of Jove, and, as it were,
on the point of being overwhelmed at that moment by the fragments
of the mountains, like the others. In another part Giulio depicted
other Giants, upon whom are falling temples, columns, and other
pieces of buildings, making a vast slaughter and havoc of those
proud beings. And in this part, among those falling fragments of
buildings, stands the fireplace of the room, which, when there is
a fire in it, makes it appear as if the Giants are burning, for
Pluto is painted there, flying towards the center with his chariot
drawn by lean horses, and accompanied by the Furies of Hell; and
thus Giulio, not departing from the subject of the story with this
invention of the fire, made a most beautiful adornment for the
fireplace.
In
this work, moreover, in order to render it the more fearsome and
terrible, Giulio represented the Giants, huge and fantastic in
aspect, falling to the earth, smitten in various ways by the
lightnings and thunderbolts; some in the foreground and others in
the background, some dead, others wounded, and others again
covered by mountains and the ruins of buildings. Wherefore let no
one ever think to see any work of the brush more horrible and
terrifying, or more natural than this one; and whoever enters that
room and sees the windows, doors, and other suchlike things all
awry and, as it were, on the point of falling, and the mountains
and buildings hurtling down, cannot but fear that everything will
fall upon him, and, above all, as he sees the Gods in the Heaven
rushing, some here, some there, and all in flight. And what is
most marvellous in the work is to see that the whole of the
painting has neither beginning nor end, but is so well joined and
connected together, without any divisions or ornamental
partitions, that the things which are near the buildings appear
very large, and those in the distance, where the landscapes are,
go on receding into infinity; whence that room, which is not more
than fifteen braccia in length, has the appearance of open
country. Moreover, the pavement being of small round stones set on
edge, and the lower part of the upright walls being painted with
similar stones, there is no sharp angle to be seen, and that level
surface has the effect of a vast expanse, which was executed with
much judgment and beautiful art by Giulio, to whom our craftsmen
are much indebted for such inventions.
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Williams
College QuickTime VR of Room
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